Morsi's slurs against Jews raise doubts

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CAIRO Nearly three years ago, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood delivered a speech urging Egyptians to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews and Zionists. In a TV interview around that time, the same leader described Zionists as “these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs.”

That leader, Mohamed Morsi, is now president of Egypt – and his comments may be coming back to haunt him.

Since beginning his campaign for president, Morsi has promised to uphold Egypt's treaty with Israel and to seek peace in the region. In recent months, he has begun to forge a bond with President Barack Obama around their efforts to broker a truce between Israel and Palestinian militants of the Gaza Strip.

But the recent exposure of his comments from early 2010, both times documented on video, has raised questions about Morsi's efforts to present himself as a force for moderation and stability.

Morsi's representatives have declined repeated requests for comment.

The statements that have come to light this month both date to 2010, after a three-week conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza the previous year.

In one clip, Morsi addressed a rally to denounce Israel's blockade of Gaza.

“We must never forget, brothers, to nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred for them: for Zionists, for Jews,” he says.

He called Obama a liar who promised the Arab world “empty meaningless words.”

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